Our Summer
by Elliewelly1
Summary: Sequel to 'My Best Friend' After all the events from the year, Alice and Joe have grown closer, closer than Alice should allow herself. But her feelings for Danny always pull her back, the memories they shared- at the end of summer, who will she choose?
1. Chapter 1

**Our Summer**

_Prologue_

She was beautiful when she was asleep, he decided. All the traces of worry and pain that she normally had plastered on her face disappeared all together. And she was just... normal. For once. She looked so carefree, so peaceful, that he daren't wake her. He fought back the urge to brush a thumb across her rosy cheek, that would only stir her from her slumber. But she was so, so beautiful.

He knew it was wrong. All of it. She shouldn't be here- what would his parents say? He had betrayed their trust. Well, he didn't plan telling them anytime soon. But what would she say? Would she push him away? Tell him all of it was wrong? She had been distant lately, after all.

He eased himself off the bed slowly and crossed over to his window, crossing his arms and leaning on the windowseal. He stared out at his garden, and the houses after that, and the people running around so early in the morning. What were they doing up so early anyway? At least he had a legit reason- but why were these people jogging around? Trying to keep fit? Well it looked like they were pretty fit, to him.

He heard her murmur something, and turned around, seeing her eyes flutter. She wore a smile on her face. That was good. Very good. So instantly he crossed back over to his bed and sat beside her. Her eyelids flickered open, revealing those shining blue orbs, and she whispered his name, reaching out and touching his face lightly, as if she couldn't believe that he was really there.

So he leaned down and kissed her gently, once, twice, three times...

"Alice..." He murmured, "So beautiful."

**Very short start. Deal with it : )**


	2. Chapter 2

**Our Summer**  
_  
"I'm cheating on you with dreams."  
- Playing the blame game, You Me At Six_

Her story had always been a love story. Before she even knew what love was, if she knew what it was now that was, she knew that it was going to be a love story. Oh, some might say her life was more of a horror story, or more of a tragedy. Everything that had happened to her, like her Mum dying under such circumstances, her brother being a bully towards her, and her Dad beating her within inches of her life sometimes. Oh yes, many would say that it was a tragedy. But to her, she had always thought it was a love story. Her Mum had killed herself through drugs because she had been beaten and unloved by the man she adored, and her brother was horrid towards her because he seemed to worship their Dad, and her Dad... her Dad had maybe, once, loved her. That, she liked to tell herself. She hoped that he had hit her as a way of releasing all the anger out that he had with her Mum. For dying and taking all the drugs and... and leaving him to raise two kids. One the boy he had always dreamed of, and one the girl that did everything wrong in his eyes. So that part of her story was a love story, whether it made sense to other people or not she didn't care. It made sense to her.

The other part of her story that was a love story, was her first boyfriend and her best friend. She didn't know whether it was love yet. Maybe it was. She hoped it wasn't. She was only fifteen, she had never wanted anything serious like that in her life, even though her life was rather serious. No, she didn't know whether it was love or not- but surely if it was love, then she would know? She hoped it wasn't. But either way, it was part of her story. A love story. Danny, her first boyfriend, had been the first person to ever really accept her, to understand her. And at the time, it had been absolutely brilliant. It had been magical. But nowadays... nowadays she saw it as, the only thing they actually had in common was the fact that their Fathers had hit them. That was all that they had bonded over. That and their love for animals. It seemed like it was the only thing that they had really seemed to talk about. And now that all the busniess with her Dad had been sorted, they had grown ever more distant. Perhaps that was her fault, because she had never tried to save what they might once have had because she was so blinded with the fact that she would never be hit again by her Father. Either way, they had grown apart.

But not her and her best friend. Joe. He was just... normal. Of course, there was no such thing as normal, she knew that, but to her Joe was normal. Joe was just another boy at her school who had fallen victim to peer pressure and was just trying to do his best to fit in. With him, she could talk about anything. And he never forced her to tell him her deepest secrets, the things that had scarred her both physically and emotionally, the things that she would never forget. Joe of course knew that something had never been right with her life. He had always questioned the bruises she had gained and the times she wasn't in school because something or the other was broken or burned. No, he accepted that she had her secrets. He had his own, too. Everyone did. And that was what she loved most about Joe. He knew that she wasn't much of an open person. Well, she hated to tell people her problems, anyway. And he accepted that. Never pushed her to tell him things, just accepted life the way it was.

Life... It was completely messed up and she couldn't understand how so much had happened when, now, it all felt like a blink of an eye, and at the time it had seemed to drag out for an era. But, it had all really happened. And she was glad it was a love story. Because love... Love was the closest thing that she had to happiness. And that was what Alice wanted, to be happy. It was what everyone wanted, really. People just didn't know it. Some may be content with the way that their lives were, but it wasn't like hers was all that great, so it was screaming obvious to her, to anyone, that she wanted to be happy.

And so that was her story. She wasn't in control of it, she wasn't the author. There was no way she could edit it or delete some of it, and she had no idea what was coming around the corner. All that she knew was that she hoped it was good, and that there wasn't too much pain. Oh, and if she could figure out her feelings before anyone got hurt. That would be great.

But of course, she had no control over fate. It was just life, take it or leave it.

* * *

**A/N**: This just over 1000 words, believe it or not, I know nothing happened but I felt Alice needed time to reflect on her life, a little character building session. Let me know what you think about it? Also, don't you think it's weird how I'm writing "Our Summer" in December? :) Ah, don't you just love winter though? All the snow? We've got quite a bit round here. I got the day off school. Not 'cause my school was shut though, but because I'm a complete rebel. And also because I told my Mum nobody was going in(a)


End file.
